OTTAWA — Canada's two biggest media unions are condemning Prime Minister Stephen Harper for what they call "undemocratic" and "frightening" attempts to limit journalists' access to cabinet ministers.

In an ongoing battle with the parliamentary press gallery over media access, Harper this week held the first unannounced meeting of the full federal cabinet in recent memory.

He defended the move by saying meetings of cabinet are private and Canadians do not have the right to know when they are held. Cabinet makes the government's major decisions.

TNG Canada, which represents media workers at the CBC and newspapers in many parts of the country, says the change is worrying because less access means Canadians know less about what the government is doing.

"Any effort to control the media or restrict the flow of information to the public worries us because it chips away at a free and democratic society," said Arnold Amber, director of TNG Canada.

"It also flies in the face of Harper's promises to make government more honest, transparent and accountable."

Amber said his union is considering ways to put public pressure on the Conservatives to lift the media restrictions.

Peter Murdoch of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union said MPs should also be upset and should use a Commons committee to take Harper to task.

"The media is accustomed to news management and spin, but hiding ministers from reporters is bizarre as practice and frightening as policy," said Murdoch.

"As representatives of Canadian journalists, we are alarmed at this tactic. It smacks of totalitarianism, not the democratic process we are used to in this country."

Traditionally, cabinet meetings have been announced in advance and reporters would gather outside the cabinet room to buttonhole ministers as they entered or departed.

By holding the meetings in secret, Harper has effectively banned journalists from the area where cabinet convenes, allowing ministers to come and go unobserved.

A heavier than usual contingent of Commons security staff patrolled the halls of Parliament during Tuesday's cabinet meeting, barring reporters from areas they had routinely frequented under past governments.

The Prime Minister's Office had no comment.